


What the Water Says

by ricochet (melas_chole)



Category: Tales of Zestiria
Genre: M/M, Romance, a nightly stroll away from everything, also there is water, water artes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-09
Updated: 2016-10-09
Packaged: 2018-08-20 11:10:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8246710
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/melas_chole/pseuds/ricochet
Summary: There are moments when words can’t say, all the thoughts and feelings that, though shared, want to be expressed.  During their grueling journey to clear the lands of malevolence, the group travels to the high-lying city of Lelant. The intel they are able to gather there — confirming their suspicions and not boding well — gives them a clear idea about their necessary next steps. Sorey and Mikleo take a nightly walk before they’ll have to set out in the next morning…





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is inspired by the song _Says_ by Nils Frahm. 
> 
> Is this a songfic? Not really. Not in the classical sense at least. There are no lyrics in this fic since there are none. The music, however, is elemental to this piece. So, please check it out.
> 
> Here is the songlink to Spotify: <https://open.spotify.com/track/1KGSPAeX3UIhhjIhB7AKnF>  
> Or find it on Youtube: <https://youtu.be/dIwwjy4slI8>  
> I hope that at least one of those works for you. 
> 
> I intended for the fic and the music to by in synch. This might not work out since reading speed varies. So you might want to put it on loop.  
> I’m sorry, I’m ranting too much…  
>  Anyway, I hope it works out for you and you enjoy it. 

# What the Water Says

Night was falling as they strolled along a river at the outskirts of Lelant.  
  
They walked in a comfortable silence only they shared, each of them lost in their own thoughts.  They didn’t need to speak to know what the other was thinking.  
  
The dark clouds that had been looming above them for the last couple of days had started to clear away during the evening spent in the library and were now revealing the darkening sky. The waning light as well as the lamps being lit one after another in Lelant sufficiently illuminated their path. The gravel crunching under their feet seemed the only sound as the scenery was clad in vespertine stillness.  
  
Talking to Lelant’s librarian had proven a worthwhile idea. They had learned everything they had wanted to — more even — and it was clear where they were headed in the morning and what they needed to do. There really wasn’t much to be said  — or even pondered — about it anymore.  
  
They trailed the river skirting the city as they walked with no destination in mind.  Their minds, both relieved with the certainty and weighed down by the gravity of their next steps, were occupied with words not spoken.  
  
Lost in his thoughts, Mikleo en passant begun to wave his hand idly above the parapet cordoning the river, a slow stream of water rising from the river’s surface and following with his movements.  
  
When Sorey chanced at glance at Mikleo, he noticed a thin stream of water, gliding in waves over the surface of the river, like a serpent, accompanying them along their way.  His eyes lit up. With what seemed like an absentminded gesture, Mikleo commanded the water in a way that was simply beautiful.  Sorey never ceased to be amazed by the seraph's power. And it filled him with joy to see him use his artes outside of battle for the first time in a very long while.  
  
Mikleo had silently noted Sorey’s bright smile from the corners of his eyes as he wandered next to him. Smiling softly to himself, the stream of water deliberately rose higher above the watercourse, soon pursued by others, slowly spinning around each other — playfully but with the grace that only flowing water had.  
  
Sorey beheld the spectacle with glowing eyes, the lights from the city beyond the other shore reflecting off the river’s surface, refracting in the dancing steams.  
He didn’t dare looking at Mikleo walking next to him, who he was certain knew he was watching, for fear that he would stop.  
  
The waves and twirls of the water became increasingly sweeping and rapid, as they left the city further and further behind. They were dipping and rising, dashing into the river’s water only to reemerge in bolder, elegant streams, sparkling in the twilight.  
Sorey couldn’t help but look at it. This was beautiful and amazing and this was something Mikleo could create…  
  
Sorey was so rapt by this, he hadn’t noticed the were approaching a lake — something Mikleo didn’t need to see but could feel.  The lake, surrounded by high cliffs, wasn’t too wide but of considerable depth. Mikleo delighted in feeling it’s deep and cooling presence — away from the rush of the city and the worries of their journey — in the quiet of the falling night.  
  
The water seraph had closed his eyes, letting the sereneness of the water rush over him.  He had never stopped the twirling streams of his artes. Their movements had become wider as they had neared the lake and calmer with the depth of his breathing.  They dove deep down into the profoundness of the lake, ascending again with overabundant vigor. He sensed the wellspring of the water deep below, providing with immeasurable profusion and calmness, its waters cursing through him, causing him to overflow him with their force, levity and abundance.  
  
When he opened his eyes again, he found Sorey at some distance staring at him in awe.  
  
Sorey had come to a halt as he had seen the movements of Mikleo’s streams of water change into something more profound. Something that wasn’t there merely to idle or be playful or to entertain him but was, with their movements, diving into something that Mikleo felt.  
  
And he knew it was a bigger body of water — how much he loved what their presence did to Mikleo — and paused to behold the lake that lay before them, nested into the steep face of high cliffs.  The twilight had made way for the darkness of night and only a few lights, fireflies and the first stars shining, reflected, dancing, in the water.  
He stood on the sandy ground and watched Mikleo on the shore of the lake, his mana glowing more strongly now, and he could feel the serenity and power that flowed around him like the streams of water returning to him from the depth of the clear, blue lake.  
  
Sorey was transfixed, breathing the cool night air, by the sight that was Mikleo. He was a thing of beauty. He was power and beauty and grace. Sorey could never stop looking at him.  
And as Mikleo turned, opening his eyes, streams of water still flowing all around him, Sorey’s eyes were shining with admiration and love.  
  
Mikleo’s features turned into the softest of smiles. The one that would make Sorey want to dissolve with his very being and rush towards him like the element that he commanded.  
  
His feet moved him forward, stumbling over small turfs of sand-rooted grass, and his lips, parting,  bade him to speak.  But how could he say this? All this…all he thought and felt, all he wanted so urgently to say right now?  
  
But Mikleo’s chuckle was lighthearted — if only in this moment — and ere Sorey knew it, his attention was drawn to the gusts of water that he suddenly realized flowing all around him.  
  
Smiling with enthusiastic amazement, Sorey turned his head after the swirls of water that increasingly run and curled about him. They gushed and twined around him, drawing enjoyment and silent laughter from both young men.  
 As they wrapped closer around him Sorey’s heart fluttered. Looking at Mikleo, he found his own elation reflected in the other’s eyes.  
  
And then the seraph lifted his arms and him up with the movement and slowly but steadily into the air.  With nothing less than complete and utter trust, the Shepherd raised his gaze from his feet taking off the ground upward to the starry sky, towards which he was lifted.  
With Mikleo’s palm pushing upwards, the waters surrounding Sorey suspended him several meters above the ground.  
Amazed at the powerful but gentle waters surrounding and carrying him and the power and beauty of his lover's artes, he turned his head and beamed down at the water seraph with the most astonished and brightest of smiles.  
  
Mikleo smiled back at him as he effortlessly held him in mid-air with the rushing waters at his command. The admiration but more than that the love in Sorey’s eyes made him feel more alive than all the water that surrounded him.  
  
Sorey rowed with his arms slowly to get closer. And Mikleo moved him further over the lake, following him, setting a foot onto the lake’s surface and another, water rushing towards the seraph as if naturally drawn to him. The water embraced him, waves gently curling around his legs, engulfing torso, carried him and lifted him up with every step. And Mikleo rose, moving upwards towards Sorey, who smiled even more raptly.  
  
As he lifted himself up higher, the moon, creeping over the bluff behind the lake, caught Mikleo’s frame. The water gently swirling around him, his silvery hair and light skin shining with his mana and the moonlight. Sorey felt his breath catching. Their eyes locked and Sorey could feel himself get lost in the beauty all around them but more so, so much more so in Mikleo’s amethyst eyes, which held deep affection and something more acute and ardent, mirroring all he felt himself.  
  
Mikleo let the waters turn Sorey slightly forward so as if diving towards him, allowing for him to come closer. Their faces met, above the lake, bathed in its waters and the glow of the moonlight. Mikleo let Sorey’s face inch closer and raised his face upwards, for his lips to meet Sorey’s — as he still held him — in a gentle but slowly, increasingly urgent kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for taking your time and reading this.  
> 
> The whole fic was inspired by this song. While listening to it, I was suddenly struck by this bittersweet and beautiful moment on their journey and I had to try and write it down.  It was really, really beautiful in my mind. And I fear I wasn't able to capture it very well at all.  I wish so much that my writing was better so I could do their beauty justice.  
> 
> I worked on this for a while and am still far from satisfied. But also, having gone over it so many times, I probably can’t judge the piece anymore as well. So, I am sharing it with you and sincerely hope you like it at least a bit. 
> 
> If you want, tell me, what you think: I'd like to hear what you enjoy, and improve what I am writing.  I’d be really happy about feedback as I am basically publishing this to share and engage with you all in this wonderful fandom.


End file.
